Sharky's NFL 2018 play-o-the-weak

[seriousplayer]

Foles just threw for 471 yards, 4 TDs and led the game winning final drive......

You sound like an Eagles fan!! The problem is that the Dallas Cowboys already clinched the NFC East division title and playoff berth. The Vikings beat the Lions. So the only hope for the Eagles is the Wildcard spot. Eagles is the number 7 seed "in the hunt" for the wildcard. Lets see what happens next week against the Redskins. Anyways, it was a close game. If the Texan had the ball a little longer than the Eagles won't have a chance to kick a field goal.

[Three]

The Vikings playing the Bears in a game that means something to both teams. And the Eagles against the Redskins, who are already done. The Eagles making the playoffs is not a long shot. They just don't control their own destiny.

[seriousplayer]

The Vikings playing the Bears in a game that means something to both teams. And the Eagles against the Redskins, who are already done. The Eagles making the playoffs is not a long shot. They just don't control their own destiny.

Three is going to hate this one but Patriots fans was happy that Eagles won. Didn't guess that the Eagles would help the Patriots.

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses...52259009875968

[Three]

Pots deleted because I got a much better view of the play showing what I "saw" didn't happen.

What you see is a push off with extended arms with enough force to bend back the defenders fingers the wrong way to almost a 90 degree angle. You can't make your fingers bend like that with force from an opposing object. That is definitely pass interference and impeded the ability of the receiver to make the jump up and back required to make a play on the ball. Just look at the fingers of the defender to see the force of the push off while the receiver was in the air leaping for the ball. The refs made the right call. The leap ended up being a hop instead due to the contact. That has been PI for my whole life. Now whether or not it gets called is a different story. If the receivers play on the ball is impeded the ball is automatically ruled as catchable, rather than a judgment call. Look at how bent back the defenders fingers are when he pushes of the receiver. That is the damning evidence. If he was just measuring up the receiver his fingers wouldn't bend back. They only bend back by a forceful push off the receiver while the receiver is in the air attempting to leap to catch the ball. No doubt about it once you see the evidence. See what kind of force it takes to bend your fingers back almost 90 degrees. It takes a lot of force. Enough force that it is painful when I do it. But I guess individual flexibility comes into play when it comes to the pain but not the force required.

[Three]

This is the rules the NFL said they would enforce strictly this year.

Both offensive and defensive pass interference will also be strictly enforced, including:

Contact that restricts the opponent’s opportunity to make the catch;
Playing through the back of an opponent;
Grabbing an opponent’s arm;
Extending an arm across the body of an opponent;
Cutting off the path of an opponent by making contact;
Hooking an opponent;
Shoving or pushing off to create separation.

I highlighted the last rule because it is the on that applies. The defender clearly could have caught the ball and maybe should have caught the ball. The defender clearly pushed off with a fully extended arm to create separation in his failed attempt to catch the ball. Now how does that not fall directly under the PI rule highlighted. The rules apply to both the defender and the receiver. The ball was catchable by the defender. He illegally pushed off in an attempt to catch the ball. Fits every aspect of the definition of pass interference. Catchable ball and a push of to create separation in the act of catching it.

[DoubleDownSoft21]

Week 17 is notoriously poor to bet. Just too much beyond one's control in terms of motivation. Some teams long eliminated can rise up with no pressure (i.e., Raiders this past Monday night) so we can't assume that "must win" teams all get the job done.

There's an old expression that I buy into. If a team is in a must-win situation to get into the playoffs, they must not be that good.

[seriousplayer]

Week 17 is notoriously poor to bet. Just too much beyond one's control in terms of motivation. Some teams long eliminated can rise up with no pressure (i.e., Raiders this past Monday night) so we can't assume that "must win" teams all get the job done.

There's an old expression that I buy into. If a team is in a must-win situation to get into the playoffs, they must not be that good.

Man! I was thinking about planning a trip out to Las Vegas for the Superbowl weekend and looking for hot bets to wagner on. Now I will need to reconsider.

[Three]

Now, the way refs enforce pushing off to create separation is if you have a clear bend in the elbow and not full extension the push will not be called most of the time. But that is not the case here. You have a full extension of the arm and a push forceful enough to bend the defenders fingers back. The ball was almost caught by the defender so it was clearly a catchable ball. The rules for PI apply to both the defender and the receiver. In the cases where the defender has the best shot at the ball PI rules still apply. The defender becomes the one with the position to catch the ball and the receiver is trying to keep him from catching it. The rules always apply equally to both players but in this case the calls that would be made against the receiver are now called against the defender and vice versa. That is because it has nothing to do with who is on offense or defense, but about who is in the position to make a play on the ball and who is trying to make the play on the ball unsuccessful.

So if you are having trouble understanding the call just view the defender as the receiver and ask is that is pass interference (did he measure off the receiver, now defender for this pass, with a fully extended arm) and is it catchable by the one making a play on the ball. If you know anything about football you know that should be called PI due to a push with an extended arm. With a notable bend in the elbow the refs might let that push go because it is about separation, but that was not the case here. The arm was fully extended and should be and usually is called PI every time. With a fully extended arm there doesn't even have to be a push. It is about an arms length of separation that gets the call.

[Three]

Man! I was thinking about planning a trip out to Las Vegas for the Superbowl weekend and looking for hot bets to wagner on. Now I will need to reconsider.

Pick games where it is essentially a playoff game for both teams, like Indy playing the Titans. Often division rivalry games where the underdog can knock the would be playoff bound team out of the playoffs and play spoiler are good bets. The Redskins and Eagles certainly qualify there, along with the Ravens against the Browns, and the Steelers versus the Bengals. The Vikings and the Bears have playoff implications for both teams. I am not saying I would touch any of these games but they would be my main short list of games to consider betting.

[DoubleDownSoft21]

If I'm the Bears, I show Minnesota nothing. Pull starters early on and go vanilla. They already handled the Vikings at home earlier in the year. If Philly gets in, they are a more potentially dangerous opponent. Much of the Bears' offense comes from Nagy's creative playbook. I expect them to show nothing this weekend.

[Three]

I think the Bears are playing for a first round bye. But they need help. I bet they play hard until their chances of getting the bye are pretty slim. The Bears have a pretty good HFA in the winter. It is cold there and the is moist cold from the lake. That makes it feel even colder. The Bears are likely to have to play the Rams at some point in the playoffs. The Bears would be much more likely to win at home rather than in LA. The Rams haven't played well lately. Them beating the 49ers is far from a given. The Rams beat the easy teams in the early part of their schedule and struggled against the better teams. They also didn't adjust well to the injuries they had to deal with. A division rival will try hard to knock down a playoff bound team in the last game. In a sense it is the playoff game for the rival that is already knocked out of the picture. But then you can't be sure about these things.

[seriousplayer]

If If Philly gets in, they are a more potentially dangerous opponent.

I am anticipating that if Philly does make it to the playoff by wildcard. They can very well lose to the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle is already in with the wildcard. Seahawks' defense is too good against the Eagles.

[Three]

I am anticipating that if Philly does make it to the playoff by wildcard. They can very well lose to the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle is already in with the wildcard. Seahawks' defense is too good against the Eagles.

Two wild card teams can only meet in the Conference Championship game.